Course Introduction
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Time: 77 hours
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College Credit Recommended
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Free Certificate
In this course, you will learn to recognize the characteristics of proper management by identifying what successful managers do and how they do it. Understanding how managers work is just as beneficial for the subordinate employee as it is for the manager. This course is designed to teach you the fundamentals of management as they are practiced today.
This course will illustrate how management evolves as firms grow in size. It is based upon the idea that the essential purpose of a business is to produce products and services in order to meet the needs and wants of the marketplace. A manager marshals an organization's resources (its people, finances, facilities, and equipment) toward this fundamental goal. In this course, you will explore the tasks that today's managers perform and delve into the key knowledge areas that managers need to master in order to run successful and profitable businesses.
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Course Syllabus
First, read the course syllabus. Then, enroll in the course by clicking "Enroll me". Click Unit 1 to read its introduction and learning outcomes. You will then see the learning materials and instructions on how to use them.
Unit 1: What Is Management?
In this introductory unit, you will begin your exploration of the practice of management. In human society there has always been a need for some degree of management in order to organize the efforts of individuals for the common (and individual) good. Even in very primitive times, gathering food, protecting against predators, and caring for the young required humans to coordinate and organize in order to achieve common goals.
Put simply, the term management refers to the coordination of work activities through and with other people to accomplish the goals of an organization. In this unit, you will explore the various functions of management. Management involves not only coordination, but also planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Over the years, the common definition of management has become less specific, as managerial functions have come to include staffing, directing, and reporting. In modern companies, there are fewer layers of management, as today's organizations rely instead on the delegation of responsibilities and authority in order to achieve goals. As a result, today's managers now speak in terms of "leading" or "guiding" people, rather than giving instructions for every action.
Management is both an art and a science, and ultimately you will need more than one course on management to fully develop your own management ability. Still, even if you have no aspirations to manage a team, you may need to lead projects, manage committees, and/or interact with managers. Understanding what makes a good manager is one of the biggest factors in the success of an organization and its employees.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 13 hours.
Unit 2: Historical Development and Globalization
The more complex an organization and its operations, the more active a role management plays. Successful management imposes a degree of order and discipline so that work can be accomplished expeditiously, no matter what the size of the organization, how many countries it operates in, or how much of its work is performed virtually.
In this unit, you will explore various theories of management throughout history, paying close attention to Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management theory, which was widely practiced in the industrial age of the 20th century. You will also take stock of more contemporary, 21st-century approaches to management, which tend to be better suited to organizations in knowledge-based industries (as opposed to those in manufacturing). Finally, you will begin to examine management from a global perspective.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 14 hours.
Unit 3: Organizational Culture, Diversity, and Ethics
In this unit, you will look at organizational culture and how it provides a company with its own workplace climate and personality. Organizational culture includes attitudes, values, and work styles which, when managed properly, can lead to a highly productive workforce.
A diverse workforce brings together people from different backgrounds. Each individual brings his or her own experiences and expertise to the table. The blending of these backgrounds can enhance productivity by allowing for the free flow of new ideas and creativity. This unit will explore the importance of a diverse workforce, and how managers can make the most of their employees' individual knowledge and approaches in order to reach corporate goals.
Management sets the tone not only for a corporate climate; it also sets the standard for personal behavior. In this unit you will also learn about the importance of ethics – that is, "doing what is right" or "doing the right thing". In light of recent major business scandals borne out of unethical behavior, almost all business schools have devoted aspects of their curricula to the study of ethics. In order to understand how to apply ethics to different circumstances, you must understand how ethics can vary based on differences in society, culture, and politics. There are a number of different philosophies purporting to explain how to apply ethics to decision-making, but none of them are absolute. However, understanding these various philosophies can help you reach workplace decisions that are more ethically grounded.
This unit will conclude with an exploration of business ethics in the modern-day workplace environment. An organization and its managers have duties, including legal and ethical responsibilities, that they must uphold as part of their service to their stakeholders, including investors, vendors, employees, and the communities in which the organization operates.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 20 hours.
Unit 4: Leadership and Teams
Throughout this course, we define managers as people who work with and through other people to accomplish the goals of an organization. One important managerial function we have not yet touched upon is motivation, or the ability to persuade and inspire others to commit to an organization and its goals. A good leader must be a good manager if he or she wishes to get a lot accomplished. In order to get work done, managers must often foster collaboration between employees so that individuals with different skills from different parts of a company can successfully contribute to projects. The concept of collaboration has evolved into the practice of creating teams comprising specific individuals with complementary skills who gather around a common purpose. This purpose might include accomplishing a specific task, addressing a particular problem, revising an internal company process, etc.
The term team is used so frequently today that the meaning of this concept is often diluted. Still, contemporary companies and organizations rely on the efforts of different kinds of teams, and many times an organization will pull together teams with members scattered over multiple locations – even multiple countries – in an effort to bring together the skills and competencies needed to address a significant task.
One of the key roles of any manager is to establish the goals and purposes of a team and to select appropriate team members. From there, the team will more or less independently work to accomplish its purpose under the supervision of a leader, who must organize and manage the team effectively.
What does a successful team look like? Would you be surprised to know that the best teams actually experience conflicts? In fact, conflict can be a productive force capable of generating new ideas and multiple options for consideration. The key is to avoid letting professional conflict spill over into personal relationships, a task that is difficult to achieve without careful study and practice. In this unit, you will look at the different stages of group development in order to learn how to create a successful team and avoid the common pitfalls of working with a team.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.
Unit 5: Managing Employees: Motivation, Empowerment, and Conflict Resolution
One of your most important functions as a manager is motivating your employees to do their best while attempting to meet corporate goals. When employees are motivated, they will seek out ways to improve their work production and maximize their performance. By giving employees the freedom to act on their own knowledge and skills, you will encourage them to ultimately be more productive for the company by fully utilizing their skill sets and, in the process, growing as professionals.
Every work environment encompasses a wide variety of personalities and professional styles. As a result, conflicts are sure to arise. Effective managers know how to address a conflict when it arises and how to frequently work in concert with others to ensure a speedy resolution.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.
Unit 6: Human Resource Management
"Business – real business – isn't about money. It's about people. You have to know and understand people."
—André MeyerThe late André Meyer was a financier who collaborated with corporations in countries around the world. He served as an advisor to leaders of state and worked as the head of the investment-banking firm Lazard Frères. Despite the fact that his career was entirely focused on raising capital and profits, Meyer saw people, including the employees of a company, as the most important aspect of business success. Meyer's belief still resonates in today's business world. Indeed, knowing how to implement effective and strategic human resource management is a crucial skill for any manager.
Human resource management (HRM) exists in many forms. We often think about Human Resources as the company department that handles paychecks and benefits, or the office an employee visits when he or she encounters a problem such as harassment or discrimination. However, HRM oversees many more responsibilities than these traditional tasks. Perhaps the most important change in the practice of HRM has occurred within the recruiting of top-quality employees for a firm. Historically, HR staff, rather than company managers, have recruited and sifted through applications to find candidates to interview for positions at a company. But HR department staff often lack the knowledge necessary to effectively screen for many newer, more technical positions – a situation in which a manager's expertise and input greatly benefit the hiring process.
In the 21st century, as companies work harder to attract and recruit talent, modern HRM is developing a more strategic nature. For example, a top HR executive today will most likely report directly to the CEO and play an integral role in executing a company's strategy. To stay competitive, today's managers must also work in conjunction with HR to be able to quickly and reliably identify the skill sets and personal characteristics that are needed to increase productivity in a company's present and future workforce.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 18 hours.
Unit 7: Planning and Strategy Formulation
Managers plan and coordinate the work of others so that an organization can achieve its goals. In their planning function, managers identify needed resources (e.g. people, finances, equipment, etc.) and organize them so that employees can accomplish activities and meet set objectives.
In addition to setting company-wide strategy and long-term goals, managers also create interim, short-term goals as a means of focusing the activities of an organization and providing direction to employees.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.
Unit 8: Decision-Making
The essential function of a manager is to make decisions. Decision-making is about making choices between alternatives to reach a goal or objective. In our personal lives, decision-making can involve determining many things, such as where we live, what foods we eat, and who our friends are. In business, decision-making can revolve around the products and services that a company offers, the markets it serves, the people it hires, and so on.
In this unit, we will look at the decision-making process, paying close attention to the basic decision types, tools, methods, and insights to help you quickly learn how it involves both logic and emotion. When you complete the course, you will have practical tools to quickly determine the type of decision you are trying to make, the available tools and methods you may use, and the way to effectively engage your teams in the process.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.
Unit 9: Organization Structure, Change, and the Future of Management
For a company to be effective and profitable, a strong organizational structure must be in place. This structure provides a framework from which all goals are set and helps individuals and departments know where they fit within the company's organization.
One of management's most important responsibilities is to ensure a strong organizational structure. In this unit, you will explore in more detail the various aspects of organizational structure, including what happens when a structure changes. Such change can occur due to new developments in the marketplace, competitive factors, and/or the development of new theories of management.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.
Study Guide
This study guide will help you get ready for the final exam. It discusses the key topics in each unit, walks through the learning outcomes, and lists important vocabulary. It is not meant to replace the course materials!
Course Feedback Survey
Please take a few minutes to give us feedback about this course. We appreciate your feedback, whether you completed the whole course or even just a few resources. Your feedback will help us make our courses better, and we use your feedback each time we make updates to our courses.
If you come across any urgent problems, email contact@saylor.org.
Certificate Final Exam
Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.
To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.
Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.
- Receive a grade Receive a pass grade
Saylor Direct Credit
Take this exam if you want to earn college credit for this course. This course is eligible for college credit through Saylor Academy's Saylor Direct Credit Program.
The Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam requires a proctoring fee of $5. To pass this course and earn a Credly Badge and official transcript, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam. Your grade for this exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again a maximum of 3 times, with a 14-day waiting period between each attempt.
We are partnering with SmarterProctoring to help make the proctoring fee more affordable. We will be recording you, your screen, and the audio in your room during the exam. This is an automated proctoring service, but no decisions are automated; recordings are only viewed by our staff with the purpose of making sure it is you taking the exam and verifying any questions about exam integrity. We understand that there are challenges with learning at home - we won't invalidate your exam just because your child ran into the room!
Requirements:
- Desktop Computer
- Chrome (v74+)
- Webcam + Microphone
- 1mbps+ Internet Connection
Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a Credly Badge and can request an official transcript.
- Desktop Computer